James Middleton Talks Terminator 4

James Middleton, the consulting producer on FOX's The Sarah Connor Chronicles spoke to IGN about the status of Terminator 4:

Middleton informed the site that us that Terminator 4 is happening with The Halcyon Company, who owns the franchise rights. It will be written by Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato, the same team that wrote Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. Halcyon would like to be in pre-production in October with an eye towards a 2009 release.

No director is signed yet for the sequel, which will not be called Terminator 4, but instead will use the title Terminator and have a subtitle, as in Rise of the Machines. It will follow the events of Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and be post-apocalyptic.

John Connor and Kate Brewster are in the script, although it is not known whether Nick Stahl and Claire Danes will return.The movie will feature a new hero as the main character. Middleton likened it to how "Ben-Hur was influenced by Jesus Christ, but it was his story. Much in that way, this character will be influenced by John Connor."

The plan is for this to be the first of three new movies, all of them set in this post-apocalyptic future and showing the war with the machines.